Skype for Windows Phone 8

It’s been an exciting few weeks for the team at Skype. We’ve launched our new fast, easy-to-use and beautiful Skype for Windows 8, and updated Skype for Windows desktop which features the beautiful and modern design Windows Phone users have come to love while, like Skype for Windows 8, delivering the best of what you’ve come to expect from Skype.

Skype for Windows Phone 8 isn’t just about the design – we’ve built a completely new app from the ground up to be an important part of the Windows Phone experience. Here’s a preview of some of the exciting capabilities coming with Skype for Windows Phone 8:

Always ReachableJust like on Windows 8, Skype for Windows Phone 8 enables you to receive chats and notifications for voice and video calls even if you’ve navigated away to another app or have your phone on lock, so you can stay connected with your contacts whatever you’re doing. Best of all, this all happens with limited battery drain.

For the first time, incoming Skype calls arrive using the familiar incoming call screen from Windows Phone. We have also included useful new features such as call waiting, so switching between a Skype call and a regular mobile call is fast and easy.

Easy-to-UseWe’ve set out to bring Skype to Windows Phone 8 with a clean, beautiful and modern interface. When you first open the app, your most recent conversations and chats are the first thing you’ll see. From there, you can pan over to your contact list or the newly added Favorites screen (more about that below) or see your entire contact list.

Windows Phone 8 has allowed us to bring new, resizable Live Tiles to Skype, so you have even more choices for making Skype a part of your Start Screen. On Windows Phone 8, Skype will show a count of your unread messages on all tile sizes – and with the largest size tile we show you a preview of the last message you received. The Live Tiles will help you to stay in touch with your friends and family, faster and easier than ever.

You will now be able to see what’s going on inside Skype without being in the app. Skype notifications can be added to the lock screen to appear alongside missed calls, unread emails and text fmessages, so there’s no need to unlock your phone to check if you’ve missed a message or call in Skype. You can also see Skype notifications at the top of the screen when you’re in other apps, so keeping up with the conversation has never been easier.

Your People At Your FingertipsJust like Windows 8, once you sign in to Skype on your phone, your Skype contacts are automatically added to your Windows Phone, making it possible to call the people who matter to you via Skype right from the People Hub.

Once you’re in the app, you can set up Favorites to keep the most important people right at your fingertips.

And finally, just like on Windows and Mac, if you have linked your Skype Name and Microsoft account, you can now see and chat with your Messenger buddies on Skype, making it possible for you to connect with more people than ever. And with the family of platforms Skype is available on, including PCs, iPhones, iPads, Kindles, Androids, Macs and even TVs, doing things with your friends and family whenever you are apart has never been easier.

We’re hard at work finishing up Skype for Windows Phone 8 and looking forward to bringing Skype to the Windows Phone Store soon.